


Lies

by Clarisse (transnymphtaire)



Series: Advent Calendar 2016 [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Soulmates, implied eating disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 13:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8802508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transnymphtaire/pseuds/Clarisse
Summary: The lies of your soulmate imprint themselves on your skin.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who just turned 21, and wrote this in a hour while drinking rum and cola. This person.
> 
> It's 1am in my timezone but I did not have any time at all today, so yeah. Hope it works.
> 
> Unbetaed. Not even proofread by me, so call me out on any mistakes.

**I’m fine.**

The words stand out in stark black against Tom’s pale skin. He wish that he could ignore them, that he could continue on with his life without paying them any attention, but he can’t. Not with the knowledge that they’re only one of the many lies that his soulmate has spoken today.

 It’s fucked up honestly, how he lives in a society where the lies your soulmate tell gets temporary tattooed into your skin. Children run around with writing, and mostly it’s just silly things, but there’ll always be the lies that adults understand and flinch at. Tom can remember some of the most horrible lies that has adorned his own skin.

**My family loves me. I get enough food at home. My uncle has never touched me. I fell down the stairs. I walked into a door. I’m just clumsy. I’m happy. I’ve eaten today. I’m not hungry. I’m a virgin. I’m fine. It only happened once. It was a mistake. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.**

 There’s ever only been pity in adults eyes when they look at his bare arms. Tom has covered his skin from curious eyes, from greedy eyes, since he first understood the words that decorated them. He doesn’t want pity for the lies that his soulmate tells - he can only imagine what kind of living situation would demand those lies to be told in the first place.

 Tom never tries to do anything to find his soulmate, doesn’t think that it’s a worthwhile way to spend his time when there’s so much else that he wants to do - that he needs to do. School and then later politics takes up all his time. He starts small, but he’s always looking into gaining more contacts, through ass-kissing or straight up blackmailing.

 Being able to see the lies politicians tell on the skin of their partners is a convenience that not enough people make use of. Tom has never shied away from getting dirty to get what he wants, and what he wants is to make a name of himself.

 That’s really just one more reason to cover his arms up - he can’t afford the media speculating about who his soulmate is. It would only bring unwanted attention to both of them.

 Since his skin is covered in public, Tom spends the time before jumping into the shower each night to look after any new lies his soulmate has spoken that day. They usually repeat - **I’m fine** \- or variations of it is the most common. He admits to not reading each lie as properly as he once did, which is why it takes until he’s out of the shower again before he discovers one that breaks the pattern.

  **I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise.**

 There could be countless of reasons as to why he shouldn’t be worried, but he is. He can’t remember ever having a lie like that imprinted on his skin before - something must be wrong. There’s few things that he can do about it, he has no clue who his soulmate is except a string of lies which could have been told by any stranger on the street. He doesn’t know his soulmate at all, there’s technically no reason for him to care at all. He doubts he would care if it was anyone else.

 Perhaps he’s more painfully romantic than he knew himself - he has to do something, anything while he can.

 "My name is not Tom Riddle,” he say to his reflection. “My phone number is not…” The numbers falls off his tongue with ease. He has no idea if this will work, if it counts as lies when he’s telling them to himself.

 It’s with hands shaking because of the suspense, because of the anxiety gnawing at him that Tom gets dressed. He keeps his phone within easy reach all the while, waiting for it to ring. He has no idea what he should say if it does, if his soulmate sees the words in time, if his lies even worked. There’s too many unknown factors.

 One positive thought rings through his head, and it disgusts even him. _If they’re dead, nothing will be able to hold me back._ He should not wish death upon anyone when he personally abhors the thought of dying, and least of all should he wish death upon his soulmate. Although he does not care much to soulmates to begin with, there must be some reason for them to exist.

 He’s almost ready to go to bed - only have to brush his teeth - when his phone rings. Tom jumps, although he will never admit that he got startled by the sound of his own ringtone. He doesn’t quite throw himself at his phone, but he has answered the call in record time.

 “It’s Tom Riddle speaking.”

 “Hey. I’m not Harry.” the stranger on the other end answer. Tom watches as the corresponding words write themselves out on his left wrist. A weight he didn’t know that he was carrying lifts from his shoulders.

He hadn’t realised how scared the thought of being too late made him until he heard his soulmate’s voice. Maybe - and just maybe - soulmates are not so bad to have after all. Especially not when they can’t lie.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't drink and write. And yeah, short bc I have a bedtime and that is now. Sorry, I literally didn't have time to start writing until midnight.
> 
> Fun fact: ass-kissing was asskicking at first, it's the one mistake I managed to catch


End file.
